Ferrin Charles Barr (January 21, 1938 – June 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, referee, promoter and trainer who spent his career mostly in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Under the name as Sandy Barr, he was best known for his presence in the

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

wrestling scene.

Professional wrestling career

Barr got his start in wrestling working with Cliff Thiede from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He wrestled his first match on March 5, 1957, in Hot Springs, Idaho against Treacherous Phillips to a time limit draw. He spent his time wrestling Idaho,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, Washington, Oregon and Canada. Barr began refereeing matches for

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...

promoter Don Owen in the 1960s because it allowed him to spend more time at home with his family. As a promoter, Barr was known as a person who would take care of the wrestlers. Tom "The Dynamite Kid" Billington said of Barr, "The only time he made anything was once a year when all the big names came in, like

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AW ...

and André the Giant, and then they'd do great business. Sold out every night. Sandy would be so excited about making all this money, after he'd paid the big names, he gave the rest of it to us, the wrestlers who were there every week. All year long he'd be scraping by, and, when he did make some money, he gave it away. But he was a very good, kindhearted man, a great man—especially for a promoter." Barr spent much of his later life as a referee, promoter, and trainer, training wrestlers such as Jimmy Jack Funk (Jesse Barr), Matt Borne (the first Doink the Clown), Art Barr, Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria. While largely retired from being an active wrestling performer, Barr continued to get back into the ring on occasion, wrestling his last match just a few days prior to his death.

Personal life

After Don Owen bought an old

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

and converted it into the Portland Sports Arena, Barr worked out a deal with Owen where he would hold a

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

in the arena when it was not being used for wrestling. He is the father of Art Barr, who would go on to fame in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

as American Love Machine, and Jesse Barr, who gained some level of fame teaming with Dory and Terry Funk as Jimmy Jack Funk. On June 2, 2007, Sandy Barr died of a heart attack while at his flea market in North Portland; he was 69 years old. Following Sandy's death, his son Josh Barr continued running the promotion until the license expired later that year. Upon the expiration of the license, all of the equipment was sold and the Barrs left the Wrestling business.

References

External links

Sandy Barr Memorial
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Sandy 1938 births 2007 deaths American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling promoters Professional wrestlers from Portland, Oregon Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers